DEP reviewing Sunbury request to triple transfer station waste intake

The Sunbury Municipal Authority recently filed an application with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to upgrade its municipal transfer station.

The facility is currently allowed to take in an average of 80 tons of waste per day, with a maximum of 100 tons on any one day. Sunbury proposes to increase the amount of waste they can accept (tonnage limit) to a maximum and average of 300 tons per day. 

Information from a summary sheet provided by the DEP includes the following:

On September 15, 2020, the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) received an application from the City of Sunbury Municipal Authority to make changes to its municipal waste transfer station and to certain permit conditions through a process called a major permit modification. Proposed changes to the facility and the permit, such as increasing the amount of municipal waste they can accept each day, will allow the authority to better operate the site under the regulations. The facility is currently operating under a DEP consent order, meaning they must make changes to their operations and/or permit conditions to meet the requirements that apply. 

​​Amount of waste received: Sunbury Municipal Authority is asking DEP to allow an increase in the amount of waste they can receive on a daily basis. Currently, the facility is allowed to take in an average of 80 tons of waste per day, with a maximum of 100 tons on any one day. Sunbury proposes to increase the amount of waste they can accept (tonnage limit) to a maximum and average of 300 tons per day. The applicant says the increase in tonnage would allow the transfer station to better serve Sunbury and other nearby communities. There are currently days where the station reaches its daily max tonnage limit of 100 tons, and the staff are required to close the facility early and turn away local waste haulers and residents. The tonnage increase would eliminate the likelihood that anyone would be turned away and required to travel to farther-away facilities. A traffic study prepared by the applicant as part of the application package looks at how these changes may affect local traffic.

Definitions

Transfer Station – A transfer station is a building or site for storing waste temporarily. Local waste is typically taken to the facility by smaller vehicles, before larger vehicles transport the waste to other places such as incinerators, landfills or hazardous waste facilities, or for recycling.

Municipal Waste – Also known as trash or garbage, it usually consists of everyday items people consume and discard.

​Tipping Floor – An unloading area for vehicles to dump municipal waste at a transfer station or incinerator. 

Summary PDF:

sunbury_transfer_station_summary_final.pdf
File Size:	212 kb
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Link to permit:

A direct link to the permit application be accessed by clicking here.

Facility upgrades: Proposed changes to the site include an expansion of the existing roof that covers the area where waste is dumped (the tipping floor) and the addition of walls and fencing to control trash from blowing off the site. The current roof only covers a portion of the tipping floor and can allow rain and snow to touch the waste. The larger roof is intended to protect the waste from the weather and improve safety. The proposed walls and fencing would prevent blowing waste from leaving the site.

The applicant is also asking to dump waste directly onto the tipping floor. This is not permitted in the current permit; however, the change would allow for better flow of traffic within the facility and increase the safety of those hauling and transferring waste.

The applicant also proposes to install low-profile scales where the trailers are loaded to allow the facility’s employees to monitor the weight of the trailers as they are filled. Currently they need to move the trailer to the scale house to determine if it has reached its load capacity.

Hours of operation: In addition to the changes described above, the Authority also submitted another application in June 2020 to expand the hours of operation at the site to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The facility currently operates Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Authority is not planning to change the current hours of operation, but by changing the permit it will allow hours to be controlled by the Authority in the future, rather than be set in the permit. This could allow them to set up special collections or projects that would be outside the current hours of operation. 

Timeline for a decision: DEP’s review of a major modification to a residual waste transfer station typically takes 140 days. However, the process is affected by how quickly the permit application requirements are met. 

Copy of  application: The application is available for review directly at this link. The application can also be viewed at Sunbury City Hall on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Additional questions about this permit can be emailed directly to Lisa Houser, with the DEP.